N.B. race report lower down
Reflections on a campaign
Goal: to win the long at the Australian MTBO champs in Wingello state forest, NSW, and podium in the middle and sprint.
What the event is: Mountain bike orienteering is just that; navigating to a set order of checkpoints in the fastest time possible. There is a sprint event which is usually 20-40 minutes long, a middle distance (40-70 minutes long) and a long event (80-120 minutes) but ultimatel the race takes as much time as you use to find the checkpoints. Being on a mountain bike means that everything is faster; the navigation is generally easier than foot orienteering because you are restricted to tracks, but you are moving faster, and tend to look at the map less (you need your eyes up when you’re on a track with rocks and drops or when moving fast on the bike!), but route choice and accurate navigation are still of paramount importance.
Reflection on training: in addition to generally training running or biking most days of the year, I decided in June to design a specific programme dedicated to this event. This meant just over a 3 month training regime with a month in each phase.
Phase 1:Base
I did a lot of long slower missions to build up a solid endurance base so that I had the fitness to do the harder trainings to come. This went really well with a mixture of trainings ranging from 90-240 minutes. I incorporated 3 cross training sessions a week which were either running or kayaking, just to keep my general and core fitness sustained. At this stage of training I opted to not take rest days, I felt that my body did not need them with the cross training I was doing.
Phase 2: Strength
This phase was meant to build in hills, with long intervals at an increased tempo, to build up my fitness on hills and at faster speeds broken up by slower recovery sessions. I had scheduled in rest days from here on in to allow my body to recover between sessions. Unfortunately almost the entire month was very broken up. At first I did the South Canterbury adventure race with the Greenhorns team, including Glen, our newest member, which was awesome, and involved a lot towing uphill on the bike, so was definitely a great workout, but perhaps not ideal In this phase of training. Then the Medical school sent us on community care week (we were sent to Reefton) which was a fantastic week of hitting fantastic trails on the bike. Finishing with the Old Ghost Rd which was awesome! Again, great training in general, but not ideal for this phase. After this it was the holidays, but (in classic me fashion) as soon as these started I went down with a flu of some sort so was not able to do anything useful on the bike this week, but did manage to get a bit of skiing done.
Overall I was a bit disappointed with this phase of training. I didn’t feel like I lacked anything after this, but I’m sure I could have been better if I had been able to adhere to the programme.
Phase 3: Speed and navigation
I really enjoyed this phase, where I employed a HR monitor to maximise my training in short, fast intervals. This was a very key phase and I kept a close watch on sleep and nutrition to ensure I wasn’t getting overtired. At one point, I had done 3 long hard sessions in about 9 days (a long ride, the Haggis Hunter 3 hour MTB race and a 4 hour rogaine training (Cheers for the map Matt Bixley).
Examples of speed sessions: (got shorter as I got closer to the competition to allow me to get faster and faster)
Ladders: warm up, 10 minutes at 80% max HR, 8 minutes easy, 8 minutes at 82% max HR, 6 minutes easy, 6 minutes at 84% max HR, 4 minutes easy, 4 minutes at 86% max HR, 2 minutes easy, 2 minutes at 100% effort, warm down
Snakes intervals: similar structure to ladders, but with smaller intervals (6,5,4,3,2 and 1 minutes)
Standard intervals: 9 x 2 minutes at 90% max HR, 8 x 30 secs 100% effort
As well as working on my speed for this phase I paid particular attention to navigation. With the help of maps from the Dunedin Orienteering club I felt I was able to have a few weeks practicing getting my head into the map and working out how to assess the best route choice.
Training as a whole: I was happy with how it went on the whole, and really enjoyed the programme. I believe it set me up well for the competition.
Limitations: Money for travel to events, time (studying for medical exams 2 weeks after the competition), lack maps on similar terrain to the race terrain.
Positives: I enjoyed HR training and the ability to measure intensity, had a good range of maps thanks to DOC, my bike (Jamis Dakota 29) was suited to the course; fast and light, had a good sense of motivation, (between using Strava to compare against my own times and looking at the competition)
The competition:
Sprint distance:
Age group: M21 (open men), Distance: 11.5km, estimated winning time: 30/35 min, 22 controls climb: 100m
The sprint was a great race, fast terrain with a good mix of urban and trails. Unfortunately I think after my taper week I just wasn’t in the mindset to go hard out from the start, and as I was last starter, I barely saw anyone on the course. I made a small error at the first control, overshooting it, as I just did not see the flag, but apart from that everything went smoothly until he last 3 controls, where under the pressure to go fast I misread the map and followed the loop the wrong way around and did them in the reverse order.
I was pretty gutted to be DQ’d, but it gave me the motivation to really go hard out in the afternoon for the middle.
Placing: mispunched, Distance: 11.9km
https://www.strava.com/activities/1230660461
Middle distance:
Age group: M21 (open men), Distance: 17.0km, estimated winning time: 50/55 min, 13 controls climb: 380m
Not about to make the same mistake as in the morning, I went out hard from the start, forgoing conservativeness (my normal approach in racing) in favour of speed, which proved to be a good decision, but yet again I made an error early in. after the first control, I had been thinking too ar ahead, and not enough on m exit from the control, so turned to follow the direction of the next leg. It took me about 30 seconds riding to realise that the long way around was going to be faster. Annoyed at this blunder, I put the hammer down and sped off on the rest of the course, opting for the hill, shorter routes, where my interval training came into its own. The finish was into the wind, which was hard but a great way to end it. I was stoked to podium in this race, just behind Conal Boland-Bristow from NZ, and Fergus Mackie of AUS. Conal and my combined time was enough for us to win the M21 age grade for this round and make it 1-1 going into the long, which made for an exciting race!
Placing: 3rd, Distance: 17.8km,
https://www.strava.com/activities/1230660509
Long distance:
Going into the long I knew this was the race I stood the best chance at. It was flatter (for the distance) and was supposed to have more open road than the other days. Again opting for a less conservative start I went hard out from the get go. I made a small error on the way to CP2, but apart from that it was a clean run. I caught 2 other competitors further up the field about halfway through the race, and used them to spur me on and drive a had pace to the finish. I was really happy with how this race went on the whole and I think it was a great finale to a long campaign. The course was hilly and long enough to suit me, with some good options for route choice, as well as some great single track. I managed to pull off a 2nd place, which I am really chuffed with, and Conal and I managed to take out the age group by 9 seconds!
Age group: M21 (open men), Distance: 30km, estimated winning time: 95/100 min, 19 controls climb: 440m
https://www.strava.com/activities/1230660786
Placing: 2nd, Distance: 30.2km,
Congratulations to Fergus for 3 wins, and the rest of the NZ team for the overall challenge win, there was some great racing out there!
Massive thanks to the TSB Community Trust for helping me out with flights across the ditch, and Rob Garden for the opportunity to go!
Reflections on a campaign
Goal: to win the long at the Australian MTBO champs in Wingello state forest, NSW, and podium in the middle and sprint.
What the event is: Mountain bike orienteering is just that; navigating to a set order of checkpoints in the fastest time possible. There is a sprint event which is usually 20-40 minutes long, a middle distance (40-70 minutes long) and a long event (80-120 minutes) but ultimatel the race takes as much time as you use to find the checkpoints. Being on a mountain bike means that everything is faster; the navigation is generally easier than foot orienteering because you are restricted to tracks, but you are moving faster, and tend to look at the map less (you need your eyes up when you’re on a track with rocks and drops or when moving fast on the bike!), but route choice and accurate navigation are still of paramount importance.
Reflection on training: in addition to generally training running or biking most days of the year, I decided in June to design a specific programme dedicated to this event. This meant just over a 3 month training regime with a month in each phase.
Phase 1:Base
I did a lot of long slower missions to build up a solid endurance base so that I had the fitness to do the harder trainings to come. This went really well with a mixture of trainings ranging from 90-240 minutes. I incorporated 3 cross training sessions a week which were either running or kayaking, just to keep my general and core fitness sustained. At this stage of training I opted to not take rest days, I felt that my body did not need them with the cross training I was doing.
Phase 2: Strength
This phase was meant to build in hills, with long intervals at an increased tempo, to build up my fitness on hills and at faster speeds broken up by slower recovery sessions. I had scheduled in rest days from here on in to allow my body to recover between sessions. Unfortunately almost the entire month was very broken up. At first I did the South Canterbury adventure race with the Greenhorns team, including Glen, our newest member, which was awesome, and involved a lot towing uphill on the bike, so was definitely a great workout, but perhaps not ideal In this phase of training. Then the Medical school sent us on community care week (we were sent to Reefton) which was a fantastic week of hitting fantastic trails on the bike. Finishing with the Old Ghost Rd which was awesome! Again, great training in general, but not ideal for this phase. After this it was the holidays, but (in classic me fashion) as soon as these started I went down with a flu of some sort so was not able to do anything useful on the bike this week, but did manage to get a bit of skiing done.
Overall I was a bit disappointed with this phase of training. I didn’t feel like I lacked anything after this, but I’m sure I could have been better if I had been able to adhere to the programme.
Phase 3: Speed and navigation
I really enjoyed this phase, where I employed a HR monitor to maximise my training in short, fast intervals. This was a very key phase and I kept a close watch on sleep and nutrition to ensure I wasn’t getting overtired. At one point, I had done 3 long hard sessions in about 9 days (a long ride, the Haggis Hunter 3 hour MTB race and a 4 hour rogaine training (Cheers for the map Matt Bixley).
Examples of speed sessions: (got shorter as I got closer to the competition to allow me to get faster and faster)
Ladders: warm up, 10 minutes at 80% max HR, 8 minutes easy, 8 minutes at 82% max HR, 6 minutes easy, 6 minutes at 84% max HR, 4 minutes easy, 4 minutes at 86% max HR, 2 minutes easy, 2 minutes at 100% effort, warm down
Snakes intervals: similar structure to ladders, but with smaller intervals (6,5,4,3,2 and 1 minutes)
Standard intervals: 9 x 2 minutes at 90% max HR, 8 x 30 secs 100% effort
As well as working on my speed for this phase I paid particular attention to navigation. With the help of maps from the Dunedin Orienteering club I felt I was able to have a few weeks practicing getting my head into the map and working out how to assess the best route choice.
Training as a whole: I was happy with how it went on the whole, and really enjoyed the programme. I believe it set me up well for the competition.
Limitations: Money for travel to events, time (studying for medical exams 2 weeks after the competition), lack maps on similar terrain to the race terrain.
Positives: I enjoyed HR training and the ability to measure intensity, had a good range of maps thanks to DOC, my bike (Jamis Dakota 29) was suited to the course; fast and light, had a good sense of motivation, (between using Strava to compare against my own times and looking at the competition)
The competition:
Sprint distance:
Age group: M21 (open men), Distance: 11.5km, estimated winning time: 30/35 min, 22 controls climb: 100m
The sprint was a great race, fast terrain with a good mix of urban and trails. Unfortunately I think after my taper week I just wasn’t in the mindset to go hard out from the start, and as I was last starter, I barely saw anyone on the course. I made a small error at the first control, overshooting it, as I just did not see the flag, but apart from that everything went smoothly until he last 3 controls, where under the pressure to go fast I misread the map and followed the loop the wrong way around and did them in the reverse order.
I was pretty gutted to be DQ’d, but it gave me the motivation to really go hard out in the afternoon for the middle.
Placing: mispunched, Distance: 11.9km
https://www.strava.com/activities/1230660461
Middle distance:
Age group: M21 (open men), Distance: 17.0km, estimated winning time: 50/55 min, 13 controls climb: 380m
Not about to make the same mistake as in the morning, I went out hard from the start, forgoing conservativeness (my normal approach in racing) in favour of speed, which proved to be a good decision, but yet again I made an error early in. after the first control, I had been thinking too ar ahead, and not enough on m exit from the control, so turned to follow the direction of the next leg. It took me about 30 seconds riding to realise that the long way around was going to be faster. Annoyed at this blunder, I put the hammer down and sped off on the rest of the course, opting for the hill, shorter routes, where my interval training came into its own. The finish was into the wind, which was hard but a great way to end it. I was stoked to podium in this race, just behind Conal Boland-Bristow from NZ, and Fergus Mackie of AUS. Conal and my combined time was enough for us to win the M21 age grade for this round and make it 1-1 going into the long, which made for an exciting race!
Placing: 3rd, Distance: 17.8km,
https://www.strava.com/activities/1230660509
Long distance:
Going into the long I knew this was the race I stood the best chance at. It was flatter (for the distance) and was supposed to have more open road than the other days. Again opting for a less conservative start I went hard out from the get go. I made a small error on the way to CP2, but apart from that it was a clean run. I caught 2 other competitors further up the field about halfway through the race, and used them to spur me on and drive a had pace to the finish. I was really happy with how this race went on the whole and I think it was a great finale to a long campaign. The course was hilly and long enough to suit me, with some good options for route choice, as well as some great single track. I managed to pull off a 2nd place, which I am really chuffed with, and Conal and I managed to take out the age group by 9 seconds!
Age group: M21 (open men), Distance: 30km, estimated winning time: 95/100 min, 19 controls climb: 440m
https://www.strava.com/activities/1230660786
Placing: 2nd, Distance: 30.2km,
Congratulations to Fergus for 3 wins, and the rest of the NZ team for the overall challenge win, there was some great racing out there!
Massive thanks to the TSB Community Trust for helping me out with flights across the ditch, and Rob Garden for the opportunity to go!